A purchase order (PO) moves through Draft → Sent → Confirmed → In transit → Received. Marking a draft sent is the moment it becomes a live order. Received orders can be closed once everything is settled, and a sent order can be cancelled until its goods arrive.
Review and send
When the order summary says Ready to send, click Review and send. A wide panel opens:
- On the left, the supplier's files exactly as the supplier will get them, on white paper. They never show your profit, ROI or margin. When you send more than one file, switch between them above the page. Edit design under the page opens your design.
- On the right, what the order says (supplier, ship to, ship by, terms, products and total), then Files for your supplier: the PDF, Excel and CSV of your design, and the supplier templates set up for this supplier. Templates made for other suppliers wait under More files, each saying who it's made for. The files this supplier gets are already ticked (the PDF until you choose otherwise). Tick a different set and a box offers to send that supplier these files next time, so their next order starts with the same files. When a supplier's own order form adds up to a different total than the order, it says so beside the file.
- Anything that still blocks sending, each with its fix. Fixing one closes the panel and takes you to it.
- Warnings, grouped by kind (for example "Projected loss on 2 products"), with one box to tick: "I've reviewed these and want to send anyway." If your business name isn't on the order yet, Add your business name takes you to it in your design.
- A revision note, when you send a revision (v2 and later).
Then one click: Mark as sent and download (or Mark as sent and download 2 files) marks the order sent, keeps those files with that version, and downloads each of them. There is no email: send the files to your supplier the way you usually do. If a file doesn't download, the order is still sent; download it from Sent files on the order page. A template that needs a look can't be ticked until it's set up: Open template takes you there.
After sending
The page turns read-only. The order summary becomes Order status:
- a timeline with the date of each step; Mark moves the order to Confirmed, then In transit, when your supplier tells you;
- the order's money and profit;
- Sent files: every version you sent, with a button for each file it carried, downloaded exactly as it was sent, and Other files… for any other file of that version;
- a link to the order's Activity, where every change is listed in plain words.
To change a sent order, click Issue revision, make your changes, then review and send it again as v2. Receive shipment records what arrived; see Receive orders. On a received order, Order again starts a new draft with the same products.
To cancel a sent order, open the ... menu and choose Cancel order. The supplier isn't notified, so let them know yourself.
Export
Export, at the top of every order, opens any of its files before you download it, exactly as it downloads. Nothing is sent and nothing on the order changes. The file your supplier usually gets is already chosen, and templates made for other suppliers are folded under Other templates:
| File | For |
|---|---|
| Your supplier. Ready to print or email; never shows your profit | |
| Excel | Your supplier: the same columns as the PDF, in a workbook |
| CSV | Your supplier's portal or import: the same columns again |
| Supplier templates | Your supplier's own order form or CSV layout, filled in for this order |
| Buy sheet | You and your team. It shows your profit, so keep it to yourself |
| Accounting CSV | Your books, once goods are received |
A draft's PDF prints Draft across it until you mark the order sent (switch that off in your design). Opening a CSV in Excel can change long numbers such as UPCs, so the CSV choice offers Use Excel. On a sent order, Version picks the order as it is now or any version you sent. Edit design (or Edit with a template's name) opens what the file is made from.
The PDF, Excel and CSV all follow your design in PO templates: the same columns, labels and order, with your logo and business details. See Design your purchase orders.
PO numbering
Every order gets a PO number when its draft is created. Click the number at the top of the order page to rename it. Files are named after it: PO-1042.pdf, PO-1042.xlsx and PO-1042.csv for your design's files, PO-1042 Acme order form.xlsx for a supplier template, PO-1042-v2.pdf for a revision, and internal files say so (PO-1042-buy-sheet.xlsx).
Tracking sent orders
Sent orders appear on the Purchase orders page under the Sent tab, and count toward the Capital deployed and Projected profit figures at the top. Capital counts as committed once an order is sent.
The ETA column is based on the ship by date:
- Red with "Nd late": the ship date has passed
- Amber: due today or within 2 days
- Muted: further out, shown as "in Nd"
No ship by date means no ETA is shown.